For the past several years Hilton has almost always been offering double points. That’s necessary, because without double points the program’s rebate value is lower than competitors. That’s also what we should expect.
The road map for where Hilton has gone with their program was laid out by Jeff Diskin, now Hilton Executive Vice President, back in 2010.
Loyalty marketing is a near-universal. It has two components, recognition (elite benefits) and rewards (rebates). Different elements move the needle more for different customers, different businesses can authentically utilize each in varying proportions, and some products can truly replace traditional awareness advertising with loyalty marketing while others need to first generate broad attention.
When a business develops a relationship with a customer it doesn’t always realize it.
Though Prince Harry and Megan Markle came under fire recently for flying private they’re also known to fly commercial, and even flew coach for a New Year’s getaway. Sitting in the very back of an aircraft may be the best position where there are security concerns.
Prince Harry is also known to fly British Airways intra-European business class which is like flying coach. His grandfather Prince Philip, however, once remarked that air travel can be quite nice “provided you don’t travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.”
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Is American Airlines international first class worth it? There’s no suites with doors. There’s no fine dining compared to peers selling international first class. The benefit surely comes from the service, right?
A Delhi man called police to let them know a woman was carrying a bomb and planned to use it on a flight bound for either Dubai or Saudi Arabia. All international flights were temporarily suspended at India’s busiest airport.
I have to assume the reason he isn’t wearing a shirt is because he doesn’t want to get sauce on it while eating his donuts. He’ll have a hard time keeping his slice steady as he goes round and round the baggage carousel.
Starwood Preferred Guest had a policy they called ‘true redemption’. It wasn’t just no blackouts, where a hotel put certain dates off limit for using points. It was no capacity controls. That meant if any standard room was available for sale you could use points to book that room.
Now with Marriott Bonvoy it seems some hotels are able to play games they weren’t able to before.
So far London Heathrow airport workers have postponed their planned August strikes, so British Airways customers next expect disruption from a pilots strike. British Airways pilots have announced strike plans for September 9, 10 and 27.
Here’s what happens next for passengers, and here’s why pilots are striking.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
